Author's notes: This short tale is based on the life of a young Hermione Granger, before she discovered she was a witch. Although I intended for it to be based on the Harry Potter books, this tale is relevant to both the book series and the film series.
As a young girl, Hermione loved being a Muggle. Though she had no idea that her future lay in the WIzarding World, she just loved living a quiet life with her family.
She'd sit cross-legged by the fire, drinking cups of tea. On rainy days, sitting in her mother's lap, listening to her old stories about old kingdoms would keep boredom at bay. She appreciated the little lessons her father gave her, on writing stories and solving column addition. The lack of siblings caused no problems for her; when she was lonely, she would go to her mother. If she was bored or needed help with school work, she would just ask her father. If they were both busy, she would curl up in her room with a good book, usually her old book of fairy tales.
But as she got older, around secondary school age, her parents become more insistent on what they wanted for their daughter. They made sure all school work was done before seven in the evening. Her father, a dentist, made sure she had check-ups almost every month, even referring her to an orthodontist when she was 11. The days of curling up by the fire were fading away. Hermione never had chance to read what she wanted- her bookcases were not filled with fairy tales, but with exercise books and text books. The fluffy decorative pens and fancy pink paper were replaced with endless plain notebooks, lined paper, and black biros. Hermione persevered. She just wanted to keep her parents happy. She didn't want to feel like a failure; even though she was already working at her highest potential, the way her parents spoke to her made her think she could aim higher. Hermione spent endless hours trying to please them, solving tricky maths problems, and writing long essays about dull politicians.
She was forbidden to go to parties. She hardly ever got chance to go out with her friends. Her hair, normally quite bushy, was even more so now that she spent so much more time working.
Her parents were secretly very proud of her, but it took a letter from Hogwarts for them to show exactly how much.
In one ordinary July, this letter came, and it changed them forever.
From that day onwards, Mr and Mrs Granger realised that their daughter knew she had to work hard, and that she didn't need a load of late nights solving maths to see that.
And so, Hogwarts just made her better. Her eyes opened to a magical new world, she relished every opportunity to discover more about this land. With new friends, a new school and a new approach to work, she had time to experience the Wizarding World for herself.
Now, in 2017, sitting by a warm, crackling fire glowing in the hearth, she sat with her two children, Rose and Hugo, who were drinking mugs of warming butterbeer, and listening to stories of old kings. Looking at the old leather-bounded book of Muggle fairy tales, she smiled. Everything was just like it used to be.